Altercations

By Neurotica

Twenty-Six

A week before Remus and Emmeline were to be married, the front page of the Daily Prophet held a large picture of a bridge in Muggle London that seemed to have been snapped cleanly in half. Hundreds of cars were driving into the river, unable to stop themselves. The Muggles had been told the bridge had collapsed due to faulty construction work. The magical community, of course, knew better. The official press release from the Minister of Magic announced that a dragon had trampled the bridge. How it was possible that there were no other signs of a dragon anywhere near—no burn marks, no claw prints—was a mystery, and that mystery kept Remus and five members of his department, including the dragon expert Charlie Weasley, in London for most of the day. All muggle bystanders and witnesses of the bridge catastrophe had had their memories modified, and Minister Bones had been in a long meeting with the Muggle Prime Minister since early morning.

A hundred Muggles had been killed driving across that bridge, or as Sirius put it, a hundred bodies had been found. If it had been a dragon that had caused this, that dragon may have ingested a few of those cars. And that was only one scenario.

"Why would Voldemort send a dragon to destroy a bridge?" Remus asked Charlie as they stood on the shore of the river, surveying the damage.

Charlie shrugged. "Maybe he just wants to show us he could do it..."

"No," Remus said, shaking his head. "We already know he could do it and we know he can do much worse. He's just toying with us right now."

"Or maybe," said a voice behind Remus, "he's just trying to curb our attention elsewhere while he does something worse."

Remus and Charlie spun around to find Sirius. "What're you doing here?" Remus asked him.

"There was a, shall we say, disturbance at Azkaban that I've been summoned to investigate. A few of the prisoners started screaming bloody murder and throwing things at the guards," the Head Auror explained. "I told the guards just to stun the lot of them, but they want me there anyway. I've just come to tell you I'm not going to be able to make it to the dress robe fitting today."

Remus nodded. "No worries. You can do it tomorrow. I'm still meeting Harry and Arthur after work, but yours can wait, I suppose."

"Alright," Sirius said. "See you tonight. I'll probably be late... Can you let Naomi know?"

"Sure thing. Be careful; those prisoners can get a bit rowdy."

Sirius laughed. "I'll be fine. See you, Remus, Charlie." The other two wizards waved as he Disapparated.

Sitting at a table in the Gryffindor common room, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were attempting to finish their homework before dinner. Though he was still taking a number of potions daily, Ron had finally been released from Madam Pomfrey's care a week before. He'd become an instant celebrity the moment he set foot in the Great Hall—three of the four houses crowded around him and his friends, trying to get the story of being a captive of Voldemort's, but Professor McGonagall walked in behind the four Gryffindors and told the large crowd to get back to their breakfast. It wasn't only the students, though; Slughorn had started treating Ron just as he did Harry—with over-exuberant hellos and hearty pats on the back during lessons. The only ones in the school whose attitudes remained unchanged towards Ron were Snape and the Slytherins. Nobody besides the Order, Harry, and his friends knew that the Potions master had a hand in Ron's rescue, and Snape showed no sings of being any kinder because of it. Not that they expected it, of course.

"He only did it because Dumbledore asked him to," Ginny said.

Harry shook his head. "Actually, it was Emmeline who talked him into it. Don't ask me how, but that's what Sirius told me."

Hermione looked up from her Arithmancy book. "I've noticed that Snape doesn't treat Emmeline nearly as badly as he does everyone else. I wonder why that is..."

"Maybe they dated," Ron suggested vaguely, scratching his chin with his quill as he tried to figure out his Defense assignment.

"That's too disgusting to even think about," Harry said, shuddering artistically at the very thought. "And besides, can you see Snape dating anyone, let alone someone like Emmeline?"

"I highly doubt he's gone his entire life without having at least one date," Hermione said reasonably.

"Yeah, but Emmeline?" Harry said, shaking his head. "She's definitely not his type."

"Whose type is she then, if you're so brilliant?"

"Remus'," Harry said promptly. "They both know too much for their own good, they're both in the Order, and neither of them take any crap from Sirius."

"Snape's in the Order," Ron muttered. Harry glared at him for being unhelpful.

"That's not a type, Harry," Hermione argued. "You're just pointing out things they have in common. And if that's all they have in common..."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Look, Emmeline and Snape could never have dated. The only person I could vaguely see him dating is Bellatrix Lestrange, and even that's a stretch, not to mention really very disgusting..."

"Why are you two arguing about this?" Ginny asked. "What's it matter if Snape and Emmeline dated?"

"They didn't date!" Harry said in exasperation.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Either way, it doesn't matter. Maybe they were just friends or something a long time ago, and don't try and tell me it's impossible for Snape to have friends, Harry." Harry closed his mouth and turned back to his homework.

"Okay, new subject," Ron said, setting his quill on top of his book. "Any idea if Sirius and Naomi are having a boy or a girl, Harry?"

"Dunno," Harry said. "She's going to a Healer tomorrow, for a checkup. The next one is when they're doing the magical ultrasound thingy, so they'll probably find out then."

"They don't want to be surprised?" Ginny asked.

"Sirius doesn't like surprises," Harry said, shrugging. "And I think he's had more than enough in the past few weeks to last him a lifetime."

"So will this make you this kid's brother?" Ron asked.

"I guess," Harry said, shrugging. "Or god-brother, if there is such a thing."

"Well, I think it's great they're having a baby," Hermione said. "Though they probably would have preferred to wait until the war was over..."

"But when will that be?" Ginny asked. "If they'd waited, they could be too old to have kids by that time."

"Yeah," Harry said. "We were all born during the first war. Of course, your parents had no idea about it, 'Mione. And Ginny was, what, six months old when it ended?"

"I don't know," Hermione said. "War is just very unpredictable, and bringing a baby into it is a bit dangerous. But I suppose since it is Sirius we're talking about, and you are all staying at Number Twelve, it can't be that bad, right?"

Harry stared at her. "You don't know Sirius very well, do you?"

Naomi and Emmeline had Flooed from Number Twelve to Emmeline's home in London earlier that morning and set to making the place at least look as though it had been lived in for the past year—Emmeline's older brothers would be arriving that afternoon with their families for the wedding, and would be staying there. Sirius offered them rooms in Number Twelve, but Emmeline told him it would be much better for them to stay at her place. The Auror looked a tad offended that Emmeline didn't want her family staying with them, but the witch explained that her brothers weren't the world's best houseguests, and that she didn't want to be stuck in a house for days with her oldest sister-in-law.

But that had only been part of the truth; her brothers hadn't been in England for fifteen years, and as far as they knew, Sirius Black was still a mad mass murderer. The witch hadn't seen her family in three years, when she hadn't known Sirius well enough to have any reason to bring the Auror into their conversations.

Emmeline had to work hard to conceal her anxiety of introducing her fiancé to her very protective older brothers. Michael and Thomas Vance had taken over the role as father figure in their baby sister's life after their father was killed when she was twelve. And as such, both were quite critical of any man she introduced to them, particularly Michael.

So it was probably a good thing that they never knew about Severus, she thought wryly, waving her wand over a bed to change the sheets. That wouldn't have gone well at all...

"Hey, Emmeline," Naomi called, entering the bedroom. "I'm breaking for lunch. Do you want anything?"

Emmeline sighed. "Yeah, I could use something," she said, turning to follow the other witch down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Thank God for Molly Weasley," she added, looking through the cabinets for something to eat. Molly had offered to go grocery shopping for Emmeline that morning, and there was now a fully-stocked refrigerator and cabinets. Since she'd moved in with Remus, Sirius, and Harry, Emmeline had had no reason to buy food at her own home.

"What time is your appointment with the Healers tomorrow?" Emmeline asked, fixing herself a ham and cheese sandwich.

"Two o'clock," Naomi replied. Emmeline watched with a raised eyebrow as she dipped a pickle in the mayonnaise jar and took a bite. "That's actually pretty good," she said in amazement. "Now I see what Lily was on about with the whole craving thing when she was pregnant with Harry."

"What did she crave?"

"Nothing too crazy: apple pie with custard and pumpkin juice—ate it almost every other hour. James had to run around making sure the house was stocked or she'd have a hissy fit. Of course, when James wasn't looking, she'd start laughing. She only did it to see him run around like his head was cut off."

Emmeline chuckled. "I suppose that explains a few things. Harry could eat ten helpings of Molly's apple pie if you let him."

"Oh, that's nothing," Naomi said, carrying her plate to the table. "James' mum told me once she had a mad craving for cockroach clusters when she was pregnant with him. Until then, none of us could figure out why he'd pass up Honeyduke's Finest for those. I just can't wait until my cravings start, the ones at three in the morning, you know. I'm going to have Sirius running all over the place."

Emmeline laughed. "As well you should," she said.

"So what are you're brothers like?" Naomi asked after a few moments.

Emmeline looked thoughtful for a minute. "Well, Thomas... he's three years older than me, and he's a lot like Remus—quiet, studious, polite. He was Prefect and Head Boy in Hogwarts, and now he works in the Department of Mysteries in America, but theirs isn't nearly as secretive as ours. I don't think he and Remus will have any trouble hitting it off. His wife is Muggleborn, and she studies ancient artifacts and paintings and things for a wizard museum. They've got two children: Andrew and Nicole—Nicole's going to be the flower girl for the wedding.

"And Michael..." She sighed. "He's one of those proud pureblood types. Oh, he's nothing like Lucius Malfoy," she added hastily at Naomi's eyebrow. "But he does believe in the whole purebloods-should-only-marry-purebloods. His wife is this snooty rich woman from a very old family in America. Don't get me wrong, Michael is a great man, but he's somehow gotten it into his head that he's a bit better than Thomas and me—Thomas especially, since he was the one with the audacity to marry a Muggleborn," she said with a sarcastic smile. "Anyway, he's an Auror in the American DMLE, and very high ranking within their Ministry. He and his wife have twin boys, Christopher and Dean—they're going to be the ring bearers—and they've got a girl around Harry's age, Anastasia, but everyone just calls her Ana."

"Is Anastasia a family name?" Naomi asked curiously.

"Not on my side, so feel free to laugh—Thomas and I had a nice long one after Michael told us what they named her. I mean, it's a beautiful name, but it would have been much more beautiful if her mother wasn't such a cow."

"Such a wonderful aunt and sister-in-law you are." Naomi grinned. "So you're worried about Michael meeting Remus?"

An odd shadow seemed to pass over Emmeline's face. "A little," she said quietly.

"Well, Remus Lupin can make just about anybody like him, so I don't think there's anything to worry about," Naomi said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah," Emmeline said with a forced smile. "You're right... Everything will be great."

Naomi raised an eyebrow at the doubt that laced Emmeline's voice, but didn't say anything. The two witches finished their lunch and went back to cleaning. Just as they finished and sat on the sitting room sofa to relax for a bit, the doorbell rang. Emmeline snapped her head to the front hall, her eyes wide. "Oh god, they're early," she said weakly.

Sirius entered Azkaban and noted how quiet the prison was. For a split second, he wondered if there'd been another mass breakout, but as he approached the maximum security ward, he found Aurors Proudfoot and Johnson (who'd been cleared of all charges in being a part of the conspiracy of Ron's kidnapping) standing guard.

"What happened?" the Head Auror asked tiredly.

"Lestrange got a hold of a wand," Proudfoot began.

"Which Lestrange and how?"

"Bellatrix and we're not entirely sure. We got it back, though, and I've got the bruises to prove it."

"Whose wand?"

"Well, it looks like Jason Evans' wand, but I don't know how that's possible, since Jason's been dead for nearly a year. And we searched the prisoners when we first got them to the Ministry and again when we brought them here."

"Where's the wand now?"

Johnson reached into his robes and handed the want to Sirius. "And before you ask, Bellatrix has been stunned and bound. We think she was trying to figure out the charms to break out."

"I'd bet my badge that was exactly what she was doing," Sirius said darkly. "This is why only certain people know the charms and it's why we never say them aloud. You may not think those prisoners know what's going on, but they're watching for any sign of weakness from us." He looked over the other Aurors' shoulders through the tiny window of the maximum-security ward. "I'm going to send a few more people to help with guard duty. And I want those prisoners searched again. Use Secrecy Sensors. Give dear cousin Bella a few extra pokes for me while you're at it." The other wizards grinned. "Owl me if you have any trouble."

"Sure thing, boss," Proudfoot said.

Sirius looked around again and shivered. "I really hate this place," he muttered. "Alright, I'm leaving. If I get back to the Ministry now, I can probably make it to Hogsmeade in time for the wedding fittings."

"How's Lupin doing?" Johnson asked, walking Sirius out of the prison. "Is he getting nervous?"

Sirius shook his head. "Remus doesn't get nervous, and if he does, he hides it very well and pretends he's just fine."

Johnson chuckled. "Give him my congratulations, will you? He got himself the best woman in England, I think."

"Yeah, I heard you dated Emmeline for a month in school. What happened?" said Sirius.

The other Auror shrugged. "We didn't really have anything in common. I was into Quidditch, Emmeline was into books. We stayed friends, but being the idiot male I was, I dumped her for a blonde with blue eyes and big—"

"Sirius!" called a voice from the shore.

The Aurors turned to find Tonks rushing to meet them. "If you don't get back to the Ministry soon, I'm going to kill Scrimgeour," the witch said irritably.

"Have at him," Sirius said with a careless shrug. "It'll save me the trouble. But make it a clean murder; I don't want to be cleaning blood and junk off the walls for the next six months."

Tonks rolled her eyes. "Don't tempt me," she said darkly. "Since when do you leave him in charge of giving out assignments? I asked you specifically for the investigation of those wizards holed up in that warehouse in London."

"And I gave it to you," Sirius said, his eyes narrowing. "And what do you mean he's handing out assignments? I left him the Amulet cases."

"Well, he's taking over, ordering everyone around, telling the juniors to get him coffee..."

Sirius growled. "Johnson, let Proudfoot know that Scrimgeour will be under his supervision for midnight guard duty for the next six months. Tonks, do whatever assignment you got and I'll deal with Scrimgeour. He'll be lucky to get a day off in the next five years..."

Remus, Harry, and Arthur stood in a row on top of short stools while two middle-aged witches took their robe measurements in Hogsmeade. Remus and Emmeline had decided on plain dress robes for the wizards. Remus didn't think his best man would react well to a Muggle tuxedo, and with his luck, Arthur would try and use his cummerbund as a hat or something.

"All right, dears," Madame Malkin said—she'd come from London specially to help the wizards get ready for the wedding. "Measurements are done, so you can relax now." Harry sighed, hopped off his stool, and sat on it. "You wanted black dress robes you said?"

"Yes, ma'am," Remus said with a smile.

Madam Malkin smiled back. "We'll just go see what we have, then."

The dress robes were the last thing that needed to be taken care of for the wedding; after this, all Remus had to do was meet Emmeline's brothers, something he was both looking forward to and dreading at the same time—he knew from what his fiancée had told him that her brothers could be a bit over protective at times. The only time he'd met a girlfriend's family was when he was with Naomi, and that had gone immensely well. Remus had known the Watts long before he and Naomi had started dating—whenever he'd go to James' during the summer holidays, more often than not, Naomi and her family would be there. Her parents had loved him. He only hoped meeting Emmeline's brothers went just as well.

"Everything alright, Remus?" Arthur asked quietly as Harry wandered away to look at the different robes in the shop.

Remus nodded and smiled. "Yes, just fine... I was just thinking about the dinner tonight with Emmeline's brothers."

Arthur chuckled. "Ah, yes, the meeting of the family. I remember when Molly introduced me to her brothers. Of course, Gideon and Fabian were a few years younger than we were."

"Were you nervous?" Remus asked, remembering quite clearly that the Prewett brothers had adored their brother-in-law and his obsession with Muggles.

"I was shaking so badly that Molly thought I'd put a Jelly-Legs Jinx on myself," Arthur said casually. Remus laughed. "But that dinner went just fine, and tonight, you'll see there's nothing to worry about. As long as Emmeline's brothers know how happy you've made their sister, they'll love you. And if by some stroke of bad luck they don't, I'm sure Sirius will take care of them..."

Remus grimaced as another thought hit him. "I forgot Sirius is going to be there. Apparently, Emmeline hasn't told them he's the best man. Not to mention the news that he's actually not a psychotic murderer wasn't the big news in America that it was over here."

"That will make for an interesting tea time," Arthur said grimly.

"Quite," Remus agreed. "And what's worse, Emmeline's oldest brother was a member of our DMLE when Sirius was arrested, so I'm sure the two of them will have much to talk about..."

"All right, gentlemen," Madam Malkin said happily, emerging from a back room. In front of her, she guided a rack of different styles of dress robes for the wizards to look at. Harry rejoined the other two.

"How about the ones with the frilly lace on the collars, Remus?" Harry grinned. Remus glared at him. "Or not," he said, completely unfazed by Remus' reaction.

The werewolf playfully clipped the back of the boy's head and examined a set of dress robes with silver fabric lining the cuffs. "What do you think of these, Arthur?" he asked.

Arthur smiled and nodded. "Very nice, I'd say. Does Sirius have any preferences?"

Remus shook his head. "He said as long as they aren't itchy, he doesn't care what we decide."

"I like these, Remus," Harry called from the other side of the rack. Remus and Arthur walked around to see what he was looking at. Harry was holding out the sleeve of a pair of dress robes that looked completely black, but had a blue tint when the light hit them just right.

"Ah," Madam Malkin said. "Those are favorites of the younger generation. The inside is lined in silk, so your friend won't have to worry about them being itchy." She smiled. "They're a little more expensive than the others, but they're handmade and well worth it, in my opinion."

Of course they're well worth it, Remus thought to himself. You probably made them... "How much more expensive?" he asked a bit cautiously. He and Emmeline hadn't really set a budget for the wedding, but he would rather not empty out his savings on it. Remus could only blink as the witch showed him the price tag. A bit more expensive seemed to mean that these dress robes were five hundred galleons more than the others. "They are nice, but a little out of our price range," Remus said as kindly as possible. "Now the silver ones..."

"Aren't as nice as the blue ones," Harry hissed in his ear.

"Harry," Remus said under his breath, "I'm not spending thousands of galleons on dress robes. I've worked far too hard for what I have, and there are far more important things to spend my gold on."

Harry rolled his eyes but remained silent as Remus and Madam Malkin discussed the other robes. Just as Remus was telling the two witches to go ahead and prepare three sets of the silver robes, the tinkling bell over the door sounded and Harry called out, "Sirius!"

"Hey, boys, sorry I'm late," the Auror said with a grin. "Have I missed the fun?"

"Well, we've already gotten our measurements, but—" Remus was cut off as Harry pulled his godfather back to the rack of dress robes.

"Don't you think Remus would look brilliant in these, Sirius?" the boy was saying.

Remus sighed in exasperation and glanced at Arthur whose lips were twitching. "They are nice, Remus," the older wizard said quietly and very unhelpfully.

"We're not getting those robes," Remus said to nobody in particular. "We're getting the ones on the counter, and that's the end of it."

But Sirius wasn't listening. He'd taken the robes off the hanger and walked over to his best friend, holding them over the werewolf's frame. "These are better," the Auror said simply. "Why can't we have these?"

"Because they're too expensive," Remus said through gritted teeth.

"Don't worry about it, then; I'll buy them. We'll take four of these," Sirius said to the now beaming witches.

Remus closed his eyes tightly. "Sirius, did you even look at the price?"

Sirius shrugged. "Yeah, so?"

"You can't spend that much."

"Sure I can. I'm the best man, and I can do whatever I please. And it would please me to buy these robes."

Remus shook his head, glaring at Sirius as Madam Malkin pulled him aside to take his measurements. "Wipe that look off your face," he snapped at Harry's smug smile.

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so angry? Sirius and I just want you to have the best wedding and these are the best robes in the country."

The older wizard sighed. "I appreciate that, but..." he trailed off, shaking his head. "Forget it." Neither Harry nor Sirius had ever had reason to be concerned about the level of their gold—both had enough to last until they were old and grey, and even then there would be more than enough to hand down to their great grandchildren.

Arthur patted him on the back. "Sirius has been trying to find something he could do for you for weeks. You're not going to be able to talk him out of this..."

"Yes, but he's got a baby on the way and his own wedding to plan. He shouldn't be spending all his gold on me," Remus argued, a blush creeping up into his cheeks. He never liked to feel like a charity case.

Sirius happily hopped off his stool ten minutes later when Madam Malkin finished his measurements, and ignoring the look on Remus' face, gave the witches his vault information. The four wizards left the shop and started up the road towards Hogwarts. Hagrid met them at the gates to let Harry in, and while the groundskeeper and Sirius talked about the wedding, Remus pulled Harry aside.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you back there," he said quietly. "I suppose it's just the nerves of meeting Emmeline's family, and the wedding. Forgive me?"

"Only if you admit the robes I picked out are better than the ones you wanted," Harry said with a grin.

Remus laughed and ruffled Harry's hair. "Fine, they are very nice. Now get back to school before I change my mind about you being a groomsman."

Harry rolled his eyes, knowing Remus would never do such a thing, and went back to the gates with Hagrid. "See you in a week!" he called to the other three wizards. "Good luck with Emmeline's brothers, Remus!"

Remus waved at him and turned to say goodbye to Arthur who was Disapparating back to the Burrow. He then gave Sirius Emmeline's address so they could meet up for dinner, but before Apparating to London, he looked down at the ground and muttered, "Thank you for the robes, Padfoot."

Sirius smiled widely and pulled him into a one-armed hug. "Anything for you, Moony, old man."

Remus winked. "See you there," he said before disappearing with a pop.